The recently concluded stage of the battle for Western civilization saw one side drop its mask and effectively admit they want to destroy Christendom. The other side also made a bold change of tactics by actually fighting back.

Perhaps the most significant dimension of the culture war's 2010s escalation was that many of the battles were not fought for the future, but over the past.

The archetypal form of these engagements was #GamerGate, a consumer revolt staged by exasperated video game enthusiasts fed up at being lied to and lied about by the gaming press. Though GG ultimately failed to reform games journalism, it exposed the hysterical Cult that's hijacked the entertainment biz as a vehicle for nihilistic anti-culture propaganda.

That the Gators and SJWs were fighting over video games is either taken for granted or glibly dismissed by most commentators. But both vantage points miss a key aspect of the conflict. On one side stood gamers who'd enjoyed their hobby since childhood and liked it the way it was. On the other massed invaders who demanded that gaming change to comport with their progressive creed. If you spent any time in the hashtag ca. 2014-2016, you couldn't escape the refrain, "I just wanted to play vidya." Gators, by and large, longed for a return to the status quo ante where they'd be left to indulge their favored pastime in peace.

In this light, #GamerGate can be seen as a conflict between those who love the past and those who are infatuated with a utopian future.

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The real dynamic behind #GamerGate and similar anti-SJW reactions was Gen Y's spiritual emptiness splitting two ways. Of the great mass that tried to fill the void with nostalgia, many swelled the ranks of gamers. The Pop Cult did its evil work on roughly 25% of Ys, whose desperate but misguided quest for meaning led them into the Death Cult's belly.

Tragically, Gen Y witches may have the same motive as their peers caught in the nostalgia trap. The former try to recreate the joy and richness of their beloved childhood IPs, but their abandonment of the vestigial Christian worldview that made those properties work dooms them to forever produce hollow knockoffs tainted by Death Cult propaganda.

Again, it makes sense. Millennials wouldn't try to remake She-Ra or Thundercats. They have no attachment to either. Millennials, as the name implies, are consumed with chasing an illusory utopian future without history or memory.

There's an important lesson in the Gen Y witches' victory over their Pop Cultist siblings. A firm moral vision--even a warped one--trumps hazy nostalgia. The Outer Party can't beat the Inner Party. You don't show up to a holy war without a religion.

In the next round of culture wars, the Millennials, having finally come into their own, will rush to realize their utopian fantasies. They will face opposition from red-pilled Zoomers. Gen Y will have the chance to share their lessons from the school of hard knocks with Gen Z. By embracing their vocation as world-weary mentors, Ys may find a last chance for redemption.